Let's work together to achieve equity across our education system and its classrooms.

The Challenge

With the Alice Springs (Mpartnwe) Education Declaration our education system embraces a bold vision:

Our vision is for a world class education system that encourages and supports every student to be the very best they can be, no matter where they live or what kind of challenges they may face.

However, evidence and experience suggest this is far from being realised.

5+ years

The average gap in Reading achievement between our most advantaged and least advantaged students at Year 9.

Source: Grattan Institute, 2024.

57%

The Year 12 retention rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students compared to 80% of all students.

Source: ABS, 2024.

65%

The proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds who feel a sense of belonging with a school - a decline of 20% in two decades.

Source: OECD, 2018.

50%

The proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds who are 'doubly disadvantaged' in disadvantaged schools.

Source: OECD, 2018.

Who we are & how we work

The Education Equity Alliance is a Victorian-based not-for-profit organisation with DGR-1 led by experienced teachers and school leaders. We formally commenced operations in July 2024 following 18 months of volunteer-based work.

Our Vision

An education system where students achieve equity of outcomes no matter their background or circumstances.

Our Mission

To empower students and teachers to be partners in system-change.

Our Theory of Change

Activities

If we empower students and teachers through systems thinking

And then we enable collaboration & action

And then we spread this learning to catalyse system-wide change

THEN this will result in the education system working more collaboratively and coherently to drive meaningful improvements in education equity (including improved learning, wellbeing & engagement outcomes)

Workshops with students and teachers to draw upon their lived-experience and evidence-based practice to identify what matters most for education equity in low-SES school communities.

School Network

Convening a School Network of Victorian low-SES schools to focus on what matters most for improvement in low-SES contexts AND collaborating on change at both the school and system level

Collective Impact ('The Collective')

Building a coalition of organisations to shift systemic barriers to education equity in low-SES communities and enabling collective learning, action and advocacy

Knowledge Sharing

(ie. Forums, Annual Summit)

Advocacy

(ie. Advocacy Platform, Roundtables)

Term 2 Forum -
The science of learning as a critical lever for improved equity

Thursday 15th May

8am to 10am

Online, Free

The science of learning and development provides strong and clear guidance on how children and young people learn.

The advancements in this knowledge and understanding provide a critical opportunity for us to consider what all young people need to thrive and succeed in the classroom - and accordingly how we can leverage this understanding to strive for greater education equity.

This Forum is for Principal-Class and Middle Leaders across Victorian low-SES schools.

Forum Agenda

Guest Speaker: ‘Guiding principles for equitable whole-child design’ with Laura E. Hernandez
Case studies on leveraging the science of learning to establish equitable learning environments
Workshop on working systemically to apply the science of learning to drive equity

Guest Speaker: Laura E. Hernandez, Senior Researcher – Learning Policy Institute. Laura specializes in designing and conducting qualitative research on whole child approaches and the systems and structures that enable them. Together with Linda Darling-Hammond and leaders from Turnaround for Children, Laura developed the Guiding Principles for Equitable Whole-Child Design. More information on the principles can be accessed here and here

Education Equity Alliance